Electric signaling apparatus.



L nu m 5., 2 rn a M d e t n e t a P nu. o Z n E H nm fnl., M lD1 9 5 0., N

ELECTRIC SIGNALINGAPPARATUS.

(Application filed Sept. 29, 188.4.)

4 Sheets-#Sheet I.

(No Mdal.)

(No Model.)

Patented Mar. 25, |902. r. B. lienzos.-

ELECT-RIG- SIGNALING APPARATUS.

(Application med sept'. 29, 1884.)

v4 Sheets-Sheet 2.

No. 696,!40. Patented Mar. 25, |902.

F. Bj. HERZOG.

ELECTRIC SIGNALING APPARATUS.

AppliAcation led Sept. 29, 1884.) `(No Model.) 4 Sheats-Sheat 3.

(No Model.)

Patnted Mar. 425, |902. F. B. HERZOG. ELECTRIC SIGNALING APPARATUS.

(Applicationvled Sept. 29, 1884.)

4 she-ets-vsheet- 4.

be properly y UNITED ,STATES PATENT OFFICE;

ELECTRIC SIGNALING APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 696,140, dated March 25.5, 1902. Application filed September 29, 1884. Serial No. 144,194. (No model.)

To LN wh-077i, it 71mg/ Ifo/2.307%:

13e it known that I, FELIXBENEDICT HER- ZOG, a citizen of the United States, residing at NenT York, in the county and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Electric Signaling of which the following is a In Letters Patent No. December` ll, 18823, I have described an-automatic signaling apparatus applicable to many diierentuses, such as telephone-exchange service, district-telegraph and private specification.

circuits, hotel-annunciators, tbc., the main feature .of which is that the apparatus may set by a person desiring to signal to a distant point in such a manner that the desired signal is not sent at the moment of setting the instrument, (as is the ease in in s-trumcnts of the class known as transmit- 4Lers,) but the apparatus retains the signal as setuntil this is released directly or indirectly from some point beyond by the person who is to receive the signal when he is ready for it. My present invention consists of several modifications and additions thereto.

It consists, first, in combining a number of such instruments upon the same circuit iu such manner and in so constructing them that if one is setall the others beyond it are eut out of circuit either automatically by the act of setting or independently oi" that act, so

y that no instrument can be released so as to i transmit its signal until after the release of until 'this operator is otherwise be 4til this change is ellectcd by all those that may have been set that are nearer the station; secondly, that when the instrument has been so released or unset and has finished the transmission of its own signal it automatically sets in lcireuitthe next instrument beyond, so that if this is set itin its turn releases its signal, and so on; thirdly, it consists in au arrangement of circuits and instruments whereby the act of setting any one instrument in the circuit automatically signals to the receiver the fact ment on the circuit has been set; fourthly, in that the act of changes the' current in circuit, so that the signal willnotbe released when set, as would the case, but will remain set unthe receiving` on crater, and' thus the signal setis not released Apparatus,

289,834, issued to me' that'an instru.

setting the instrument also'A lit; iifthly, it consists in such further improve ments in this signaling apparatus as are lleremy latent signahshowingits in tcrnal construcly tion. Fig. 4 illustrates my invention as applied to a district-telegraph ing a series of district-telegraph instruments or boxes on the same circuit constructed and onnected according to my invention'. Fig. 5 represents the front of. a latent signal prosystem, showv vided with three separate' dials'and capable of sending several separate signals successively. Fig. t shows inodiiication in the forms of e iaracter-disks for transmitting the proper signals under certain conditions.

In Fig. 1, D', D, D, and D represent aseries of latent-signal'instrumentsplaced in the same circuit in series, as shown. As all are constrncted'in the same manner', it is only necessary to describe the instrument D', which is substantially the same in construetion as the instrument described in the patent already 'referred to and clearly shown in'Fig. 3.

t consists of aclockwork-transmitter J, provided with a transmitting-disk B, for sending thegsignal in the usual manner, and an electroinaguct C, the armature-of which controls thc 'escapement of the clockwork, so that the transmitter or latent-signal instrument may be released by sending a current through the cirouit. Referring again to Fig.Y l, this instrument 'is provided with two'hands on the outside of the box, one of which, lli, is attached to the spindle carrying' the character-disk and the other of which, N,is mounted on the front of the box, so that it may beset independently in any desired position, so as to limit thc revolution of the other hand, and thns'detcrmine the signal transmitted, cx-

atleisurc to latteml to,l

actly as described in my previous patent referred to. Upon the independent' hand N is IOO mounted a fiat spring O, rigidly screwed to a projection n, attached to but insulatedffrom the metal hand itself. This projection n passes through the hand, as is clearly seen in Fig. 2, and terminates in a spring fn', which travels over the face of a metal arc P, making constant electrical connection therewith. The outer end also of the hand N carries a projection s, which likewise ends in a brush hearing on the second metal arc S, as shown. In the present position of the hands the spring O is pressed in contact with the projection s, so as to connect the arc P with the arc S; but when thehandM in unwindingcomes up to the hand N a pin m, projecting below this hand, comes against the spring O and as the hand continues turning carries it over from the contact-point s to the contactlpoint T, carried by the hand N, the consequence being that the spring O breaks connection with the arc S and' makes connection with the metal hand N. The

' set, the spring O will be over in contact with the'p'oint T, from which the circuit leads,

through the metal hand itself, (whichis mounted on the front of the box and is insu` 'erstood that when all the instruments in the- -circuit vare unset the circuit leads through them all in series, and it can be either` a norinaily energized or unenergized circuit, as desired. When any instrument is set, all those beyond are automatically cut off, the circuit is grounded (or closed through a return-wire, asthe case may-be) through the transmitter and releasing-electromagnet, and therefore when a current is sent over the circuit to release the signaling irnstrument it will only release the one that 1s nearest to the receiving operator and will not aiect the others until this instrument has ceased sounding its signal, when the hand M will carry over the spring O into contact with point T, thereby connecting in circuit the next instrument, which if it has also been set will then be released and will transmit its signal, after which it will connect in the nextinstrument, and so on. In order to separately distinguish the signals sent in by two or more successive instruments, there should be an interval between them, which should be recognizably longer than that between two signals. This is secured byl arranging the contact-points s and T so that the springO breaks connection with the one a considerable space of time before making connection with the other, It

is also necessary if only one signal or set of signals is received when the circuit is tested that means be provided whereby the operator can know which station has sent the signal. This I do by giving each station an arbitrary signal, such as is usual in districttelegraph boxes, in addition to the variable automatic signal to be transmitted. Atthe receiving-station where the signal is received there are laced in circuit an annunciatorA', a-switch 5', and in branch 1 a battery B", and ina branch circuit 2 a sounder'or recording instrument C and a battery B", as shown. If the apparatus I have described be employed ina telephone-exchange system or in any case where separate magneto calls or other means are used for-calling up the central oicel independently of any generator at such office, then the annunciator A would be normally grounded and would be arranged to drop when such call was made, thus iudicating this fact to the -central operator.

The latter thereupon or as soon as at leisure switches in the battery and receiving instrument C', .whereupon ifa signal be set upon some instrument, upon the line the curreft froml this' battery instantly releases the instrument nearest the oice that has been set, and the incoming signal is then read orrecorded on the receiving instrument C. In certain applications of my invention it .is n'ecessary to provide means whereby a` station can signal to the end of vthe line without releasing a latent-signal vtransmitter which may be set at some intermediate station. I make such means the subject o\f another application, Case No. 67, Serial No. 318,181, filed July 20, 1889, Figs. 10, 11, and 13. Such necessity arises, for instance, in combination telephone-exchange circuits where the last subscriber on aline snaydesire to call up the central oice without disturbing the signal of the other subscribers and without ringing their bells. If no calling apparatus be employed at the stations which is independent of the central generator, and if the circuitbea normally open one, then, if desired, according to my invention the mere act of setting any instrument closes the circuit at that instrument, and so if at the central station a battery B" be kept in'circuit the fact that an instrument has thus been set will then be shown by proper' shown double, which admits of more signals and, consequently, information being given from one office; but each operates independcntly and they transmit their signals succes- IOO ldo

sively in exactly the same manner as the separate instruments shown at different stations.

In Fig. 4, which represents my invention as applied to a district-telegraph circuit, D", Dl D, and Dl represent separate call-boxes constructed according to my invention and arranged on the same circuit as before. Each instrument consists of the clockwork signaltransmitter now in common use fordistrict call-boxes,as shown, provided with the signaldisk B, the hand M for setting'the instrument, the escapement G, &c. In addition to this WOII-known mechanism I arrange van electromagnet C,whose armature is carried by a bent lever E, from which projects a finger F, which is normally held by gravity in the way of the pendulum G and locks the escapement, but allows the pendulum to vibrate when the lever is rocked by the electromagnet C.' The upper end-0f thislever E ends in a wedge-pointed elbow e, the edge of which bears upon the pe- -riphery of the metal sector A, screwed to the spindle L. 1 is an insulated contact-spring against which'the sector A bears when the instrument is unset, as shown. K is a second contact-spring which bears on the periphery ofthe sector when the sector is turned,

ahead, but is placed slightly ahead, so that when the clockwork is unwinding the sector will break contact with the spring K a short time'before making contact with the springI in order that the last signal transmitted lby this instrument may be distinguished from the rst transmitted by the next. The linecircuit enters the instrument through the transmitting-spring H, thence leads through the disk B, through the frame of the instrument, to the metal sector A. If this instrument be unsetthe sector connects with the contact-spring I, from which the circuit leads directly to the next call-box, which it enters iu precisely the vsaine way as in the box 'D, and consequently the circuit leads through all the unset boxes in series. It the instrument has been set, the sector'A will be in the other, thus avoiding the confusion which.

now results from two. or more subscribers setting their instruments at once. The effect of setting each box is to cnt oft all those beyond, so that the current sent over the line by the central operator when he is prepared to receive signals will only trip the nearest instrument set, and when' this instrument has ceased sending its signal it automatically cuts in the next instrument, (after a short 'interingstation the circuit-breaking instrument R', through which the circuit leads, which is so constructed that whenthe circuit is momentarily broken at one of the call-boxes (as it is while the'metal sector .A is passing from contact-spring -I to contact-spring K in set- -ting the hand) its armature tiltsby its own4 gravity and breaks the main circuit, as clearly shown, at the same time closing a local circuit and ringing a bell b to inform the operator there that a box has been set. Thus the mere act of setting any box permanently To prevent their breaks the circuit at the central oce and prevents the box from being tripped. The central operatonbeing prepared to receive the signal or. signals, depresses the key k, which again closes the circuit through ythe releasing-batteryand a sounder or receiving instrument f, upon which the signals are received in any desired manner. the instrument R"` to be used as an ordinary sounder, if desired, I have lshownit provided with a movable -stop carrying hook fr, which may be rocked into position to limit the play of the armature-lever. The metal sector A'- -serves two purposes-one to connect the instrument with the springIor with the spring K and the other to hold the lever eand fini ger F out of engagement with' the escape- To enable` roc ment G, so that the instrument will continue ger should drop in and lock the escapcment when the instrument is set, and for this purpose a notch a. is cut in the sector so as to come. under and allow the elbow e to drop into it and lock the escapement. A second notch a. is also cut in the sector, the object of which is as follows: Suppose a box has been set andtripped and has j ust commenced sending its signal, and suppose a second box nearer-'the receiving-station to be thenl set. This will cut ed the first box in the act of sending its signal, and the person who is sending the signal will have no means of knowing that the signal ofhis box has been interrupted. As the instrument unwinds further, however, the notch a. comes under the elbow e, which stops the escapenient before the hand'has quite run down, thus indicating the fact that the instrumentis stopped partly run' down-that its signal has been iument betweeirit and the receiving-station. lf the circuit had not been interrupted by the setting of a second instrument, the elbow e would have been held out of the notch a' by the electromagnet C, and consequently the instrument would have completely run down. To enable the instrument tn be unset by the person setting itin case of mistake, I provide abutton Y, by which the lever E may be disengaged from the escapement. The armature of the electromagnet also has attached to it a clapper, which strikes upon a. bell, as

- shown by the dotted line, the object of which is to ring if during the transmission of a signal a. box further along the line has been set,

thus interfering with the signal beiiig sent.v

In Fig.v 5 I have shown a modified apparatus, by means of which several distinct sets of signals can be transmitted when the instrument is released. Each pair of hands shown corresponds to mechanism such as hereinbefore described, and thel method by which when the first set of signals has been properly released it sets off the next'is the same as that already described.. This is in eiect simply a modification of the apparatus already shown, in' which the diierent instruments are at separate stations or odices.

.in the duplex instrument shown in Fig. 1 and thel triplex instrument shown in'Fig. 5

the circuit connections for each component' Amechanism of the whole are precisely like those in the individual instrument shown,an`d the connections between any two are the same, whether they are in one box at one station or A are situated at diierent stations.

In Fig. 6, A B C represent the break-wheels, respectively,of three instruments to be placed "at different stations'on the same circuit. They enable the receiving-operator to distinguish from which one 'of several stations the signal is sent. It will readily be seen that although the number of teeth on each side of the wide' teeth can be set so as to give the desired variable signal, as described in my previous patent, the signals transmitted by the breaks vbetween these wide teeth is always the same,

being arbitrarily fixed for each station. B

vB2 show a modiiication of these break-wheels,

as described in that patent, I construct its armature so that it engages with the vibratlng pendulum, and thereby locks the escapemont, so as to prevent its vibrating, and a further improvement consists in the mechanism by which the cscapement is prevented from being. locked at eachbreak of the circuit when the instrument is transmitting its signal after the release thereof. This is accomplished by means of the pivoted lever Z, which serves as la catch to hold the armature out of the way of the escapement while the clockwork is unwound. To enable the instrument to be set, an arm c is screwed to the spindle L in such a position with respect to the hand that .when the instrument is being set by the revolution of the handit kicks the lever l out of the way, and so allows the armature to drop and lock the escapement, as clearly shown in the drawings. When the current engages the electromagnet C and its' armature is attached, this armature is caught and held up by the catch upon the lever, which drops into position. l

It will readily be seen that it is not at all times necessary, indeed is in some cases not even desirable, thoughv usually advantageous for the operation of my invention under varying conditions, that the local grounding and the cutting'oif of the instruments beyond the one set should be elected automatically by the act of setting them. It is enough to keep the apparatus within the scope of my invention if this is done independently when preferable,provided that the instrument automatically returns to its normal position, and thusv makes possible the release of any other'instrnment'that may be set beyond.

By the term single line I mean a system in which three or more boxes or stations cooperate in series with a central station by way of connections' which comprise between two IIO cated and a box next beyond-that is, farther 'in the same time limit the operation of neither' will be able to prevent the proper reception of the signals from the other.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l1. A series of transmitters, included in und cooperating with only a single main line leading to the stations on each side, each transmittercomprising a break-wheel and brush and motor device, und a setting'device for the same; a magnet, an armature and adjuncts arranged and adapted to control the motor" device, and thus to control the production of the signal by the break-wheel, together with a cut-olf switch coperating with the said line at a point'bctween thc break-wheel of the transmit-ter'and the break-wheel of the next more distant transmitter, and arranged to out the latter o from the receiving-station.

2. Aseries of transmitters,included in andv 5 coperating with only7 a single main line leading to the stations on each side, eachl transmitter comprising a break-wheel andbrush and motor'device, and a setting device for the me; a magnet, an armature and adjuncts lo a ranged and adapted 'to control the motor device,and thus to control the production of the signal by the break-wheel, together with a circuit-completing switch, including elements for controllingr the said main line at i 5 the'box.

3. A series of transmitters, included in and coperatin g with only a single main line leading to the stations on each side, each transmitter comprising'a breaknvheel aud-brush .zo and motor device, and a settingdevice tor the same; a magnet, an armature and adjuncts arranged and adapted to control the motor device, and thus to control the production of the signal by the break-wheel a cut-olif switch coperating with `the said line at a point between the break-wheel of the transmitter and the break-wheel .of the next more distant transmitter, and arranged to cut thelatter'off from the .receiving-station; together with a 3o circuit-completing switch, including elements for controlling the said main line at the box.

4. A series of transmitters included in and.,

cooperating with only a single main line leading to the stationson each side,.each trans: m-itter comprising a. break-wheel and brush, a motel' device and a setting device for the same; a magnet, an armature and adjuncts arranged and adapted to control the motor device and thus to control the production of 4o thel signal by the brealbwhecl, together with a restoring device and means for operating the same through vthe said single circuit to' the receiving-stationfor restoring tlienor mal circuit at a box after its operation.

coperating with only a sin gie main line leading to the stations on each side, each trans.

mitter comprising a break-wheeland brush, a motor device and a 'setting device for the 5o same; a magnet, au armature and adjuncts arranged and adapted to control the motor device and thus to control the production of 6 5 riable'or characteristic sgnaLltogetlier with a variable signal; a branch line, including.

nection-contacts arranged to control the op- 5. A seriesof transmitters included in andA themagnet: and `aient-ott operated by the act of setting the-transmitter and operating to disable the line beyond; and a restoring device operating to restore the disabled line 7o to its normal condition and controlled bythe magnet.

. 7. Several transmitters included in thesin'- glemain line, each comprising a setting devicea controllingmagnet and transmitting mechanism, including elements arranged to transmitan invariable. or characteristic signal, and a variable signal; a branch linc including the magnet; and a cut-ol for the said main line beyond,fand .devices operating to simultaneously connectfthe'branch line to the main line, and to operate the cut-o, tofv gether with a circuit-restoring device controlled by the magnet. V

8. A system, of four or more stations in series; receiving apparat-us at one of these, and signal-boxes at the others, comprising first, signal-transmitting elements,iucludinga setting device and break-wheel, a brush, 4a motor and a magnet; second, elements including contacts arranged and adapted to temporarily cut oft or postponey the release of motors located in boxes which have been set farther along the lin'e; third, internal coueration of its own motor, in correspondence with the condition otits own setting device; fourth; non-interference elements, including contacts arrangedwhile a box which is set and so postponed is ready to be released-to operate to so cut olf or postpone all operated boxes beyond; ifth, circuit connections including in addition to only oneretnrn, only one wire from any box in the direction of the receivingstation; all coperating' so that while one box is transmitting all boxes bel youd willlbe postponed,'an'd so that each of such postponed boxes must be separately released in succession-whereby the signals of all boxes will be duly received in succession.

9. A system comprising four or more stations coperating with a single main line', -one of these including receiving apparatus and three or more each including a signal-transmitting movement; -a magnet in a l,branch IIC line arranged to coperate with the main line,

and controlling means for' holdingor locking the movement; a cuto for that portion of the main line extending to stations beyond; and mecha'n'ism for restoring the normal condition of the cut-0E after the operation ofv the signal-transmitting movement; whereby the several movements are separately locked andlsuccessively released so as to transmit the respective signals in sequence and with 125 "out interference.

10. A signal-transmitti 0 box comprising a characteristic break-whee and a movement adapted 4when wound to actu'ate thev same, and a detent for the movement; a single-main line coperating therewith and including onone side a cut-oft switch; afmanual setting device operating botn t'o set thewheel and to In tesgmony whereof I have signed my I operate the cutoff.swit.ch; a. magnet inatemname tothis specification in the presence 'of pormfy branch return, arranged to control the two subscribing wimesses.v

. detent; for the movement.; and means where- F. BENEDICT HERZOG. '5 by the operation of the movement; breaks the Witnesses: v

connection of ghe main line to the sa'id branch S. A. KNESHBERG, and reclosesthe mainline atvthe said cut-off. F. E. LYSTER. 

